CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) - Sarah Palin took her first impromptu question from a reporter traveling with her campaign Wednesday while shaking hands at a restaurant called Karl's Inn of the Barristers in Cleveland.

A pool reporter from the national press corps asked Palin's reaction to the federal bailout of insurance giant AIG.

Palin said she is "disappointed that taxpayers are called upon to bailout another one."

"Certainly AIG, though, with the construction bonds that they're holding, and with the insurance that they are holding, very, very impactful to Americans," she said. "So you know, the shot that has been called by the feds, it's understandable but very, very disappointing that taxpayers are called upon for another one."

The reporter asked Palin if she had plans to come to the back of the campaign plane to chat with the reporters who cover her as she campaigns around the country.

When Palin entered the restaurant with her husband Todd, she introduced herself to about 10 patrons as "Sarah," and told them, "Excuse me for interrupting your meal." It was Palin's first retail campaign stop since the day McCain tapped her as his running mate.

Politics is a popularity contest and if you are keeping count on the blogs, V.P. candidate Governor Sarah Palin is the belle of the ball. On a single page of an ABC news blog, Palin's name appears 24 times, McCain's twice, Biden's once and Barack obama's– not at all. It's not scientific, but it's indicative of something bizarre.

And she's a big hit offline too.

When Palin and her running-mate John McCain– he's the one running for president by the way– appear together, people cheer for her. Then when he speaks they begin to file out. Ouch! When they campaign separately, her crowds dwarf his. What's wrong with this picture?

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Sens. McCain and Obama put politics aside recently to come together and observe the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero.

(CNN) – The race for the White House remains virtually neck-and-neck, according to CNN’s latest poll of polls.

For the first time since September 7, Sen. Barack Obama is ahead of Sen. John McCain in CNN’s national poll of polls. Obama has the support of 46 percent of registered voters compared to 45 percent for McCain, while nine percent are unsure about their choice for president. In Tuesday’s CNN poll of polls, the two men were tied at 46 percent each.

“The presidential race has been a virtual dead heat since the end of the conventions,” noted CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib. “At the moment, the McCain and Obama campaigns’ advertising strategies appear to be cancelling each other out. What we can’t yet measure, however, is the impact of the crisis on Wall Street. Economic issues favor Obama, but voters tend to support McCain more in terms of overall leadership and crisis management. The bottom line is that, with 48 days to go, this race is a toss-up.”

Wednesday’s poll of polls is comprised of the following four national general election surveys: IPSOS-McClatchy (September 11-15), Gallup (September 14-16), Diageo/Hotline (September 14-16), and American Research Group (September 13-15). The poll of polls does not have a sampling error.

Speaker Pelosi fronted a press conference Wednesday of Democratic women from the House who are supporting Sen. Obama.

(CNN) – Amid a McCain campaign push for Hillary Clinton’s supporters, a group of major Democratic congresswomen said Wednesday Sarah Palin wasn’t helping the Republican ticket make major inroads among women voters.

“By and large her supporters are backing Barack Obama,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference at Democratic National Committee heaquarters, backed up by cheers from over a dozen female lawmakers standing beside her.

“At first, the Clinton supporters were disappointed,” said Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado. “But in Denver, my district, Clinton unequivocally said she is supporting Barack Obama 100 percent, and all of the women who are supporting Hillary Clinton are supporting Barack Obama.”

Some national polls have shown McCain getting a boost among women voters since he tapped Palin as his running mate. To counteract that, Obama and Joe Biden — who have tapped the services of Hillary Clinton’s former director of women’s outreach — have launched a week-long effort dubbed “Women’s Week of Action.”

Obama and Biden will hold women’s rallies on Friday and the candidates’ wives, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, have both hit the trail this week for women-themed events.

Clinton herself will also join the effort, joining VP nominee Joe Biden in a women’s online forum on Wednesday night.

Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke during the Roll Call at the Democratic National Convention.

(CNN) - John McCain’s campaign seemed to accuse Barack Obama of pressuring Hillary Clinton to withdraw from appearing at a rally with Sarah Palin, and pushing the group to disinvite the Alaska governor – but did not provide reporters any evidence to back up the claim.

Late Tuesday, an organizer of the September 22 “Stop Iran. Now!” rally announced that Clinton, Palin and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel would be appearing at the event. Hours later, Clinton’s office announced that had changed her decision, and would not attend.

“Earlier this week Governor Palin accepted an invitation to join Hillary Clinton in speaking to a nonpartisan rally organized by groups dedicated to halting Iran's nuclear program,” said McCain-Palin spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement. “Senator Clinton has since withdrawn from the engagement, presumably at the behest of the Obama campaign, and according to news reports, Senator Obama's campaign may be leaning on organizers to disinvite Governor Palin as well lest the rally appear partisan.”

But the Politico story cited by Goldfarb in an e-mail sent to reporters does not include any sources making that charge. One anonymous source – who is identified only as someone “familiar with the talks” – seems to reference debate among organizers over whether or not an Obama-Biden representative was needed if Palin attended the rally in New York over Iran’s nuclear program, to avoid the appearance of partisan politics. It does not mention any request of this kind coming from anyone connected to the Obama-Biden campaign, including Senator Obama himself.

Clinton is canceling an appearance at an event Palin is also slated to attend.

(CNN) - Reporters who got notice yesterday of an event headlined by both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton figured the prospect of an SNL skit come to life was too good to be true, a gift from the campaign gods.

But for a few hours, it was. “We are pleased to inform you that the keynote speakers at the “Stop Iran. Now!” Rally are confirmed to be Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Governor Sarah Palin and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel,” read an e-mail from a leader of a Jewish group planning the event.

But the curtain came down on the comedy sketch-turned-reality before the duo ever hit the stage: Clinton officials soon said they had not been told Palin would be on hand — and that her presence, which made the event a political one, would mean the absence of the New York senator.

"Her attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event," said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines. "Senator Clinton will therefore not be attending."

The McCain-Palin campaign has not yet said whether Palin herself will still be attending the event, but released a statement criticizing Clinton’s withdrawal. "Governor Palin believes that the danger of a nuclear Iran is greater than party or politics,” said spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. “She hopes that all parties can rally together in opposition to this grave threat."

Palin has praised Clinton since being named John McCain’s running mate — although she has largely dropped those compliments from her stump speech after drawing a negative response from GOP audiences. Clinton herself has largely avoided mentioning or directly criticizing the Alaska governor during her appearances on behalf of Barack Obama’s presidential bid.

Sen. Biden talked about the economy while campaigning in Ohio Wednesday.

MAUMEE, Ohio (CNN) – Joe Biden hammered John McCain on the economy at his first stop Wednesday in this battleground state, criticizing the Arizona senator for only now coming around to the idea of regulation needed to avert financial crises.

With polls showing Barack Obama has lost his lead in Ohio, Biden is embarking on a two-day bus tour of the state.

The Delaware senator told supporters at an outdoor rally that they have a choice between those who allow corporations and the wealthy to go "unfettered” and those who want “common sense rules” to protect transparency.

“Look, if John cares so much about this now, where was he a week ago?” Biden asked. “Where was he a month ago? Where was he 5 years ago? I’ll tell you where he was, he was bragging to the folks on Wall Street, to the executives who now he calls ‘greedy.’ He was bragging to them how we’re going to shred the regulation that fetters them, that ties them down.”

“So let’s take a look at John’s conversion here,” Biden later added, “Something happened on the road to Damascus, John fell off his horse but he got back up on the same horse.”

He went on to draw parallels with McCain’s health care plan, saying that there too McCain favors de-regulation that wouldn’t allow states to protect its residents from insurance companies.

“So John, you got back on the same horse, you continue to push a plan that’s designed to de-regulate the health insurance industry,” said Biden, asking the crowd to raise their hands if they trust insurance companies to take care of their needs.

“I got one person [who] raised their hand. I got also a bridge I got to sell you and guess what? It’s in Alaska and it goes to nowhere,” he said, echoing a line Obama has been using on the stump as well.

(CNN) – Barack Obama’s campaign has released another negative ad that accuses John McCain of failing to protect American jobs – its second TV spot in the past few weeks aimed at working-class Pennsylvanians as the nation's economic crisis continues.

The tough new ad spotlights the closing of a Corning Glass factory in State College, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of being partly responsible for the loss of 1,100 jobs there four years ago.

“Corning shuts down its plant in Pennsylvania,” says the announcer in the 30-second spot. “Hundreds lose their jobs. Then the workers are rehired to disassemble the plant. And ship the equipment to China.

“Washington sold them out. With the help of people like John McCain. He supported tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. And voted against cracking down on China for unfair trade practices. We can’t afford more of the same.”

'Revitalize' is the latest Obama ad to hit McCain on jobs. They released a spot several weeks ago that charged the Arizona senator with failing to protect U.S. motorcycle manufacturing jobs that hit the airwaves as he visited York, Pennsylvania, home of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle factory.

Earlier: Another Obama Pennsylvania spot accuses McCain of failing to protect U.S. jobs

The campaign has also run radio and television ads that said the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign manager Rick Davis were partly responsible for the potential loss of thousands of Ohio jobs, timed to coincide with his trip to the area where shipping giant DHL may make those cuts, and a similar ad about the auto industry when McCain visited Michigan.

The Obama campaign said the ad would air in Pennsylvania and in "key" states nationwide.

UPDATE: The Republican National Committee response pointed to Obama's spring loss to Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary. “Barack Obama has no record of reforming government and does not know how to fix the current crisis, so he’s going on the attack," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant. "Pennsylvanians rejected Obama’s name calling and false attacks this spring, and they’ll do it again this fall.”